Lewis Carroll was born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson on January 27, 1832, in Daresbury, Cheshire, England. Carroll was the son of a clergyman, and the third of eleven children. As a child, Carroll loved acting and engaging in magic tricks for his family, along with writing poetry. Also as a child, Carroll excelled in Mathematics and won a variety of academic prizes (Smith, David Eugene). In 1846, he enrolled at Rugby School, and in 1854 graduated from Christ Church College, Oxford.
Carroll suffered from a bad stammer, but was able to speak fluently when he was around children (Smith). His relationships with younger people in his adult years are of great interest, since they inspired some of his greatest work while also raising disturbing speculation over the years. Alice, the daughter of Henry George Liddell, can be credited as his ultimate source of literary inspiration (Briggs, Elizabeth D.). Alice Liddell remembers spending many hours with Carroll, sitting on his couch while he told fantastic tales of dream worlds (Briggs). During an afternoon picnic with Alice and her two sisters, Carroll told the first rendition of what would later become Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Smith). When the group returned home, Alice asked Carroll to write down the story for her (Smith). After fulfilling her request, the story fell into the path of novelist Henry Kingsley, who urged Carroll to publish it. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was released in 1865 and gained steady popularity. As a result of its success, Carroll wrote the sequel Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There in 1871.
These works were considered to be children’s novels that were satirical in nature and exemplified Carroll’s wit (Briggs). Much of Carroll’s writing style and thought process were based on games (Briggs). The interest in logic he developed came from the playful nature of their principle. The childlike nature in his work results from the fact that he primarily wrote comic fantasies and humorous verse.
Together with his fiction, Carroll also liked to produce illustrations and art to go alongside his work. For the original Alice’s Adventures Underground, he created many intricate pen and ink illustrations. Eventually he accepted his own artistic limitations, and took on noted Punch magazine illustrator and political satirist John Tenniel to create new images, making them both famous in the process (Smith).
Carroll was also a very accomplished photographer. He took many pictures of children, again coinciding with his interests in playfulness and children’s literature. Carroll was regarded as one of the premier amateur photographers of his time, and he took photos of friends, family, fellow scholars, and various famous figures such as Alfred Lord Tennyson, and members of the Rossetti family (Smith).
Some of Carroll’s most famous poems include “Jabberwocky,” in which he created nonsensical words from word combinations, and “The Hunting of the Snark,” which is another children’s nonsense poem (Tufail, "The Illuminated Snark"). Carroll’s interest in linguistics is also displayed in his work. While not mostly recognized for his poetry, his skill in creating worlds and the use of nonsense generated much respect for him (Tufail).
Carroll died in Guilford, Surrey, on January 14, 1898.
Works Cited
Briggs, Elizabeth D. "Lewis Carroll, Friend of Children: 1832-1932." The Elementary English Review 9.1 (1932): 4-7.
Smith, David Eugene. "Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) 1832-1898." The Mathematics Teacher 25.1 (1932): 38-43.
Carroll suffered from a bad stammer, but was able to speak fluently when he was around children (Smith). His relationships with younger people in his adult years are of great interest, since they inspired some of his greatest work while also raising disturbing speculation over the years. Alice, the daughter of Henry George Liddell, can be credited as his ultimate source of literary inspiration (Briggs, Elizabeth D.). Alice Liddell remembers spending many hours with Carroll, sitting on his couch while he told fantastic tales of dream worlds (Briggs). During an afternoon picnic with Alice and her two sisters, Carroll told the first rendition of what would later become Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Smith). When the group returned home, Alice asked Carroll to write down the story for her (Smith). After fulfilling her request, the story fell into the path of novelist Henry Kingsley, who urged Carroll to publish it. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was released in 1865 and gained steady popularity. As a result of its success, Carroll wrote the sequel Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There in 1871.
These works were considered to be children’s novels that were satirical in nature and exemplified Carroll’s wit (Briggs). Much of Carroll’s writing style and thought process were based on games (Briggs). The interest in logic he developed came from the playful nature of their principle. The childlike nature in his work results from the fact that he primarily wrote comic fantasies and humorous verse.
Together with his fiction, Carroll also liked to produce illustrations and art to go alongside his work. For the original Alice’s Adventures Underground, he created many intricate pen and ink illustrations. Eventually he accepted his own artistic limitations, and took on noted Punch magazine illustrator and political satirist John Tenniel to create new images, making them both famous in the process (Smith).
Carroll was also a very accomplished photographer. He took many pictures of children, again coinciding with his interests in playfulness and children’s literature. Carroll was regarded as one of the premier amateur photographers of his time, and he took photos of friends, family, fellow scholars, and various famous figures such as Alfred Lord Tennyson, and members of the Rossetti family (Smith).
Some of Carroll’s most famous poems include “Jabberwocky,” in which he created nonsensical words from word combinations, and “The Hunting of the Snark,” which is another children’s nonsense poem (Tufail, "The Illuminated Snark"). Carroll’s interest in linguistics is also displayed in his work. While not mostly recognized for his poetry, his skill in creating worlds and the use of nonsense generated much respect for him (Tufail).
Carroll died in Guilford, Surrey, on January 14, 1898.
Works Cited
Briggs, Elizabeth D. "Lewis Carroll, Friend of Children: 1832-1932." The Elementary English Review 9.1 (1932): 4-7.
Smith, David Eugene. "Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) 1832-1898." The Mathematics Teacher 25.1 (1932): 38-43.
Tufail, John. "The Illuminated Snark." Contrariwise. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr 2013.
TJ/HWS/ENG 214